AUTHOR DRAFT. DO NOT PUBLISH. 10 Minute-Training: You’re IC No. 2 at a well-Involved strip mall fire in Bakersfield with no 360. Now what? #2
10-Minute Training
You're IC No. 2 at a well-Involved strip mall fire in Bakersfield with no 360. Now what?
By Ed Hartin
B Shifter Buckslip, April 21, 2026
Every month, the B Shifter Buckslip features a 10-Minute Training scenario designed to provide a bit of synthetic experience while enhancing your ability to recognize patterns, identify relevant cues, expectancies and anomalies, set plausible goals, and develop a workable incident action plan.
No 360 was performed due to obstructions and size. The building is vacant and boarded up, but there is a substantial unhoused population in the area.
This month’s 10-Minute Training heads to Bakersfield, Calif., where a vacant strip mall fire is already well-involved in a central occupancy. Set against the challenges of a substantial number of unhoused individuals in the area, this drill challenges you to step into the role of IC No. 2 so you can exercise your skills in strategic decision-making, risk management and resource coordination while maintaining tactical supervision.
For other 10-Minute Trainings, visit https://commandcompetence.com/.
If you are a Blue Card IC, check out the Blue Card Strip Malls CE Module.
Ed Hartin retired as fire chief with East County Fire and Rescue in Camas, Wash., after a 50-year fire service career. Ed maintains an active international training and consulting practice and is a Blue Card instructor. He holds the Chief Fire Officer designation from the Commission on Professional Credentialing and is a Fellow of the Institution of Fire Engineers. Ed has undergraduate degrees in fire protection technology and fire service administration and a master’s degree in education. Since 2017, Ed has developed more than 450 10-Minute Trainings to provide ICs with deliberate practice to build competence.